On the 40 acres of rural Wisconsin farmland I grew up on, I build a skateboard mini-ramp. Southern California skateboard and BMX stunt culture was injected into my world of cows and cornfields on a monthly basis via the USPS and magazines like Thrasher, Slap, Freestylin’.
Throughout those magazines was the Skateboarding is not a crime vibe. Bumper stickers, t-shirts, all the propaganda you need. Not that I was ever going to be hassled for skating in my backyard, there was something compelling about that mantra. That despite the vandalism skateboarding can cause, it’s just like basketball or tennis. You know, not a crime.
I spent this afternoon reviewing content for a client. In it, “a speeding ticket is not a crime.” It made me compare the 2 statements. Both are dangerous, both can damage property – personal and public. Yet, one is spoken as a persuasive argument and one is a statement of legal fact.
What if the sentiments were swapped?